Similarly with Heather Robinson’s article assigned this week
in EDCP 342, “Using Research to Analyze, Inform, and Assess Changes in
instruction”, this stance regarding grades also reflects the philosophies that
my Sponsor Teacher holds and follows with her math classes. Again, while I
understand the need to decrease the role that grades play toward student
motivation, I am also beginning to question the greater cultural need to further
develop such a paradigm shift.
It is evident that relieving the pressure of grades and a
standardized method of ranking student understanding can help students to enjoy
learning. Yet, beyond the High School classroom setting, post-secondary
institutions have yet to adopt these sorts of ideals. Professional programs,
such as law, medicine, and engineering, are entirely structured on grade
systems. It is imperative those students are either right or wrong and that
they can be evaluated for a factual and conceptual understanding of their expert
subject matter. If schools move away from helping students through testing
experiences to increase student intrinsic motivation, will there be future repercussions
as a result of not being prepared for future instances where testing is inevitable?
Will students be prepared for drastically increased levels of stress? By
including testing in classrooms, is there a way to “scaffold” stress levels of
students as they enter other spheres of their lives beyond the monitored
classrooms?
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